This is the Reason I Love Running A Summer Yoga Retreat
Connection is almost as important as food and water
As I wrote in Yoga Retreats are Medicine for Your Life-Tired Soul, going on retreat allows you to take a break from life to relax, refresh, and renew yourself to be able to handle everything that life throws at you. Or at least handle it slightly better.
What I love about running retreats is the connections they create, both between me and my students, as well as the connections they make between each other. The friendships that these retreats cultivate, plus the general human connection, is like nothing else.
When you spend 3 days eating, sharing, and practicing yoga and meditation together, it creates an experiential bond that carries beyond the retreat. I see them supporting each other on Facebook, going for walks together, spending time with each other outside of the retreats. It feels so good to support those types of connection.
Why do we need connection?
As humans, we are social creatures. Even the most introverted introvert needs other people. Isolation becomes more of a problem as we age, and making friends can be harder.
If you have kids, when they were little, you’d make friends because the kids shared an activity and you’d spend a lot of time with the other parents. If you were lucky, you’d hit it off and continue the friendship, even when the kids grew up. However, sometimes they were just “lacrosse friends,” or “dance friends,” or whatever activity it was.
Being a parent can be lonely, and even when you don’t have kids, being an adult in general is hard, and making friends with real connection isn’t easy. Joining an activity with other adults who share your same interests is a great way to make friends, if you are courageous enough to introduce yourself, start chatting, and pursue a friendship. Introversion (plus perfectionism) can be so hard!
Loneliness has been shown to negatively affect your health. According to Psychology Today, it has been related to shyness, low self-esteem, self-consciousness, social withdrawal, and anger. It can also lead to social isolation, depression, substance abuse, poor sleep and appetite, suicidal thoughts and behavior, and impaired immune and cardiovascular functioning.
“Humans, because of necessity, evolved into social beings. Dependence on and cooperation with each other enhanced our ability to survive under harsh environmental circumstances. Although the survival threats of these circumstances have lessened in today’s world, people continue to have a need to affiliate with others. Indeed, the lack of such connections can lead to many problems, including loneliness….emotional connectivity remains a core part of being human. We need each other—maybe not in the ways that characterized us evolutionarily, but for a need that remains essential for psychological survival.” ~Psychology Today, 12/14/16
Yoga Retreats for Social Connection
I teach yoga online, and although I love chatting with and connecting to my students before and after class, spending time with them in person, for an entire weekend, fills my “connection bucket” in a way that daily interactions don’t.
We build our internal resources through yoga and meditation to be able to sit with our feelings and not let anxiety overtake us. We strengthen our physical and emotional “muscles” to cultivate open hearts and minds. Doing this together, collectively, offers support and a group energy that isn’t possible when practicing alone at home.
My goal for these retreats is to hold space for true connection. On retreat we show up as ourselves, no masks, no pretending, and find acceptance, compassion, and love for each other as humans. Even new people become part of the community easily and effortlessly, just for being there.
Compassion breeds compassion. Acceptance breeds acceptance. My students take this with them back into their lives, sharing with their partners and friends, making this world a more loving place, one heart at a time.
Join me on Retreat!
6th Annual Summer Yoga and Meditation Retreat with Sound Healing
With Vicky Rutkowski-Dennis and Janine Agoglia, August 9-12 in Plainfield, MA
I am bringing sound healing to the annual Summer retreat! In addition to yoga, meditation, nature walks, ear acupuncture, and incredibly nourishing food, Vicky Rutkowski-Dennis will be joining me to fill your mind and body with the beautiful vibrations of singing bowls!
I keep these retreats limited to 15 people to create a safe space for people to connect. If you are over 50 and looking for a small, welcoming retreat, click the link below. Spots are going fast!
Click here to learn more and sign up! https://subscribepage.io/35P295
Yoga Book Club Retreat
Coming Winter 2025 in Late January/February in Plainfield, MA!
The Yoga Book Club Retreat is a book club where we take the entire weekend to discuss the book. In between discussions we practice yoga, meditation, and go for trail walks outside. Books are usually focused on aspects of yoga, meditation, or growth. Past books have included Self-Compassion: the Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff and Inner Engineering: a Yogi’s Guide to Joy by Sadhguru. This year’s book will be announced in August!
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Janine, I am putting this retreat on my wish list for next year! I did not realize you are in western Mass.